Finding Hope
by smashman42
Summary: Concerned that her relationship with Ranma will never be normal, Akane finds much needed reassurance in an unexpected place. One shot set after the end of the manga.


As soon as Akane saw Ranma enter the dojo, she frowned at him in disapproval and shook her head.

"Aw. C'mon, 'kane!"

"No way, Ranma. We had a deal, so you go back and change right now!"

"But, you know I..."

"Yes, yes. I _know_ it's easier for you to hit me when you're a girl too, but we've _talked_ about this. Practising the art is something we _both_ love, and I _really_ want us to do it as a cou…together; with my fiancé, not with my 'girlfriend'."

"Fine!" the currently female pigtailed martial artist exclaimed, as he turned to the house in search of some warm water.

Slipping into her warm up stretches, Akane sighed and began to reflect upon the changes in the months since the failed wedding.

On the plus side, Ranma had really begun to open up to her and share some of his genuine feelings. It was a little hard for him to hide them when a few nights after the wedding attempt, she caught him having a nightmare on the roof directly above her bedroom. Evidently he'd been 'guarding her' whilst she slept, had fallen asleep, and then started screaming about her being dead when she didn't wake up after being rehydrated. Akane, confused at first, quickly jumped to the roof to help defend him from whoever or whatever was attacking him when she realised what was really happening. After calming him down she shared that she'd had similar nightmares of watching him fight that phoenix monster all alone, while she was trapped as a shrunken doll tucked in his shirt helpless to do anything but watch while her vision got darker and darker as her doll-eyes slowly closed. It seemed Akane opening up about her own nightmares from Jusendo was enough to stop Ranma's spluttering denials cold.

They used the privacy of the roof to talk properly, not just about the nightmares from their most recent traumatic experience, but about pretty much everything. What they really wanted out of life; their hopes, their dreams, their fears. Somehow, they even clarified the misunderstanding about Ranma's confession, how she'd heard it and he thought he'd only screamed it in his head. How Akane had managed to hear Ranma the first time no longer mattered after he managed to say it again, out loud for certain this time. After pinching herself to make sure it wasn't a dream, Akane confessed her own feelings in return and practically threw herself at Ranma in an attempted glomp, but Ranma grabbed her by the shoulders to hold her back before she could.

With a grim expression Ranma admitted that he had to tell her something. Something very important that he'd kept from her for reasons that at the time seemed important, but now felt quite stupid. Akane remembered feeling the waves of remorse practically radiating from him and how down he looked. Obviously he thought this was going to ruin everything between them so like usual, Akane's mind started jumping to absurd conclusions, like he'd been having group sex with the other girls, when Ranma uttered three totally different mind shattering words to the ones he'd uttered mere moments before.

 _Ryoga is P-chan._

There was a hell of a lot more explanation to go with the revelation of course; about the lost boy following Ranma to Jusenkyo and a redhead chasing a panda knocking him off a cliff into the cursed spring, an oath to not reveal his rival's curse to anyone, why Ranma was in her room with a kettle the night she adopted the pig; and numerous very sincere apologies, but finally the truth was out, and it _hurt_. As hurt as she was, Akane consoled herself with the fact that Ranma did actually tell her unprompted before she discovered the secret herself. That her pet P-chan was really…

 _Well, it turned out 'pig' is a doubly accurate description for Hibiki after all,_ Akane thought bitterly.

Akane had tried to forget what she'd done next, abandoning Ranma on the roof to his own dark thoughts while she woke up the whole house as she berated her father for keeping the secret and then interrogated Nabiki about whether she'd been in on it as well. She'd cried herself to sleep that night and felt so numb that the next week was pretty much a blur. Akane had forgiven Ranma early on in the week after she'd had time to both cool down and think about how different the Ranma who had originally decided to keep this from her was to the Ranma that had finally told her. But in her hurt and withdrawn state she hadn't actually told him that, nor had she realised how upset he was. She regretted that now but thankfully it worked out alright.

A week later, Akane had been breaking bricks in the dojo to relieve some frustration that 'P-Chan' hadn't turned up to be hit in person when she noticed Ranma sitting out in the yard and realised he was still 'guarding' her, even if she wasn't acknowledging his existence. She looked at him, really looked at him for the first time in a week, and saw the saddest look she'd ever seen on his face, and her brain sort of rebooted itself. She started towards Ranma to set him straight when she noticed Nabiki laying on the lawn getting some sun a little way from him. There was no way they'd get to talk properly with _her_ around, so Akane resolved to have a do-over of their conversation on the roof to fix things, seeing as Ranma would no doubt be there guarding her again.

That night she pulled herself up onto the roof to find Ranma exactly where she expected him to be. After some uncomfortable fidgeting in silence, they both tried to apologise to each other at the same time. They eventually talked everything out and somehow ended up slipping straight back into the mood from their previous night together up on the roof before it was cut short. After reaffirming their feelings for each other, they finally, _finally_ , shared their first real, proper kiss.

No tape. No neko-ken. And most importantly, no interruptions!

It was clumsy but sweet, reassuring Akane that Ranma really hadn't been seeing the other girls behind her back like she'd always feared. That was the moment her jealousy about the other girls had finally died.

Akane ended up getting the opportunity for revenge against Hibiki that she'd wanted, but it didn't work out how she'd expected. She was walking home from school with Ranma – with him actually on the pavement beside her rather than up on the fence – a few days after they'd reconciled when 'P-chan' came running up to her making his happy 'Bweee' noises. Akane plastered a fake smile on her face and picked him up, the pig didn't even notice how she'd uncharacteristically held him out away from her chest. Her fake smile morphed to a predatory grin as she ground out, "Why hello there, Ryoga, long time no see…" It only took ten seconds for her to get her fill of the fear in his eyes before she drop kicked him over the horizon.

Then, instead of feeling a sense of triumph and vindication as she'd expected, she dropped to the ground shaking and burst into tears.

By some miracle, Ranma managed to comfort her reasonably well without his foot becoming wedged down his throat. Akane asked him to keep the pig away from her in future if he could. She hadn't realised seeing him would make her feel so violated all over again.

It'd now been months since she'd seen the pig. Apparently he was living with Akari at her farm, but Akane still wasn't sure how she'd handle seeing him if he did turn up again. She knew Ranma had gotten rid of him at least twice since then, and who knew how many times he'd turned up and disappeared again of his own accord? The first time Ranma intercepted the pig, he had told her almost straight after as he didn't want to screw up their relationship by keeping secrets again, but Akane found she really didn't want to know. She told Ranma it was okay to not tell her straight away, but she would ask periodically when she felt up to it and he was honest when she did.

After the P-chan fiasco, things finally started to change for the better. For the first time since the engagement was forced on them they actually felt almost like a real couple, going on perfectly normal dates and everything. Ranma was taking things really, really slowly; nothing past kissing and hand holding. Akane found the glacial pace of their physical relationship truly frustrating. Sure, she might not want to go all the way just yet, though there was a hell of a lot of ground to cover between there and where they were. In a way, Akane wished he was a little more like the pervert she'd always accused him of being, though perhaps that was part of why he was going so slow now? She might not have helped things, but his social development was clearly stunted in almost every way thanks to his pathetic excuse for a father. In private he was so shy and unsure of himself with her, a far cry from the epitome of confidence he displayed to the rest of the world.

Was every aspect of Ranma's larger than life persona some sort of defence mechanism from a childhood of deprivation, neglect, and outright abuse?

Akane's train of thought ground to a momentary halt as Ranma finally returned to the dojo in his natural form. After they exchanged smiles, Ranma's apologetic and Akane's approving, the pigtailed young man began rushing through his stretches whilst Akane started some basic katas. As she watched him, wishing he was wearing a tight muscle tee rather than a gi, she drifted back into her thoughts.

As much as things with Ranma were on balance pretty good, even with her complaints on how slowly things were progressing physically, on the other side of the coin it seemed almost nobody outside their families were accepting their new relationship status. Sure, the fathers had backed off on surprise weddings, thanks greatly to Ranma and Akane both finally agreeing they _would_ get married, just not _right_ _now_. Nodoka was helping keep Genma in line, and without him egging on Soun, they both seemed happy enough that their children were at last accepting the engagement and left them be. For the most part. Nabiki's money-making schemes were annoying, but as Akane and Ranma were much more trusting of each other now she couldn't play them against each other as easily. Regardless, the members of their household were the least of their problems.

Ramna had shocked the whole fiancée brigade declaring he had made his choice and was officially with Akane now, but all of the girls without fail had dug in and seemed to have shifted their focus from wooing Ranma to attacking Akane. Shampoo had made it clear that she was on the 'obstacles are for killing' bandwagon again, stressing to Ranma that 'Airen not able guard Pervert Girl all time'. Even the reminder of what he did to Saffron when he threatened the blue-haired girl's life didn't dissuade the Amazon. She seemed to think death was a worthy price to pay to destroy Ranma's happiness as she claimed he had destroyed hers.

Strangely, Cologne had gone back to China on 'Tribal Council Business' shortly after they all came back after the battle with Saffron and the wedding that wasn't, according to Mousse anyway. As far as Akane knew the Elder had yet to return to the Nekohanten. Who knows what horrible magical relics she'd bring with her to assist her great-granddaughter in her quest to capture Ranma? Still, it was odd that Cologne had been away for so long now...

As they both moved into a Saotome School kata designed to defend against longer weapons, Akane's thoughts drifted to Ukyo. Throwing explosive okinomiyaki at the wedding seemed to be only the tip of the iceberg as far as the chef's erratic behaviour went. The first thing she'd tried after Ranma's announcement was attempting to feed Akane a poisoned okinomiyaki, which was safely batted away by Konatsu before Akane could take a bite. The chef had then challenged Akane to a duel for the right to marry Ranma, which Akane won soundly thanks to Ukyo being so wound up and unfocused that disarming her was absurdly easy. Like Kuno siblings easy! As much as Akane hated to admit it, she thought they would have been pretty even if Ukyo hadn't already lost both her temper and self-control before the fight had started.

Then the chef went to Ranma's mother to try to plead her case. When Nodoka turned her down cold, for some reason Ukyo tried to take Nodoka hostage and had her tied up. What exactly Ukyo hoped to accomplish by that was anyone's guess, as it would hardly endear her to anyone involved. Akane remembered bursting into the room behind Ranma to find Konatsu had come to the rescue again, having Ukyo already unconscious and starting to untie Nodoka whilst begging for forgiveness on behalf of his 'unwell' mistress.

All of this really disturbed Akane, who had previously thought of Ukyo as a sort of friend, if in strained circumstances. Now it was like she was another slightly less physically intimidating version of Shampoo, and one of those was _more_ than enough. Akane was grateful for Konatsu trying to thwart Ukyo's most dangerous plans, even if a lot of his motivation was keeping Ukyo out of jail and physically unharmed. Konatsu had admitted to Akane and Ranma that he was afraid of truly angering his Mistress and being sent away, so he felt he could only do so much. He did feel an obligation to Ranma and Akane, but his obligation to Ukyo, not to mention his feelings for her, were so much greater. Konatsu just wished Ukyo would come to her senses.

 _He's hardly alone in that,_ Akane thought dryly.

Both Kuno siblings were as loopy as ever, though at least they were fairly predictable. Somehow these days, Kodachi seemed to be the _least_ unhinged of 'Ranma's girls', which was really saying something. While the other two were throwing explosives at the wedding with no regard for collateral damage, she had simply arrived in that creepy black mockery of a western style wedding dress. It wasn't that she had became magically sane or anything like that, it was more that the other girls had turned their crazy levels up to eleven. Though her paralysis powder and what she might do while you were incapacitated by it was frightening, it was usually very easy to avoid breathing the stuff in.

Tatewaki had taken to bringing his katana to school in place of his bokken, though really that was the extent of his changes. He was still spouting horrible poetry and going on about his 'Fierce Tigress' and 'The Pigtailed Girl', and was still easy to knock out. With the added risk of the real blade (the ki infused bokken could cut trees and concrete but was less deadly against living people, rather like the Breaking Point technique), Ranma insisted on handling the delusional kendoist himself, and dispatched him as quickly as possible every day. Akane grudgingly went along with this, remembering the sheer terror in Ranma's eyes the day she insisted on handling the moron herself. She had to remind herself that Ranma wasn't doubting her skills so much as he was still traumatised about what happened to her in China. They'd talked at length about it between themselves, but Akane was starting to think Ranma needed to talk to a professional. Of course given his dysfunctional upbringing and the warped attitudes of both of his parents, there was no chance he'd agree to seeing anyone any time soon. Maybe if Doctor Tofu came back Ranma could be persuaded into talking to him about it? Akane sighed again.

All the hostility from Shampoo and Ukyo had prompted another big surprise for Akane. Ranma actually approached _her_ about training her to better defend herself if he wasn't around for whatever reason. He was focussing on her speed, her defence, controlling her temper, and taunting others into making mistakes. Sure, he still wasn't hitting her anywhere near as hard as he could, though he had finally moved on from just tagging her through holes in her defence, which in itself was an improvement over just dancing around her. He had also started throwing her if she left herself open to it. She tended to overcommit when she lost her temper, which was one of her biggest problems.

Whilst he didn't throw verbal barbs so much outside the dojo any more, inside was a different story. Akane had to admit Shampoo wouldn't hesitate to try to provoke her into losing her cool, and Ranma had highlighted this verbal assault was what made his victories over Hibiki look so effortless. 'Lose your cool, lose the fight' he'd said, stressing that he really didn't want to hurt her with cruel insults any more but it was a necessary part of her training, even if Akane didn't think the Amazon could really rattle her any more about anything other than maybe her cooking ability. And Akane had to learn to use insults too, as that was her best chance in the short term of beating, or more realistically getting in a cheap shot and escaping from, Shampoo. Anything Goes, anything to win, including running away to fight another day.

 _'Saotome Secret Technique', huh?_ She snorted as a suppressed laugh tried to escape.

Ramna caught it and looked at her quizzically, but Akane just shook her head and mouthed, 'Nothing'.

So now, she found herself being trained by Ranma to defend herself from his two former fiancées and one crazy wannabe fiancée stalker. Sure, Kodachi was never really that much of a threat to start with, and she now knew she could take Ukyo if need be thanks to months of intense training since their last fight, but the threat of Shampoo still loomed over her much in the same way cold water loomed over Ranma's very existence.

Worse than 'just' the Amazon, what if all three of the psychos worked together? Akane and Ranma dreamed up a nightmare scenario together involving the neko-ken. First, Shampoo would make Ranma go cat when he had inadvertently crossed a staged trail of catnip. Neko-Ranma would then run away high as a kite, leaving Akane alone and vulnerable for both Ukyo and Kodachi to swoop in and try to contain until Shampoo could change back to join in and finish her off. All the while, Ranma would be intoxicated and none the wiser. Or even more horrific, Ranma goes cat and _doesn't_ leave, instead killing all three 'threats' to his 'mate'. He'd never be able to forgive himself if that happened, and had admitted the thought of killing someone while in neko-ken had always haunted him. Due to the terrifying possibility that the girls might foolishly try to use Ranma's kryptonite to their advantage in some way, and Ranma and Akane's mutual fear of it, they both now carried Thermoses of hot and cold water with them everywhere they went just in case he needed to be snapped out of it at a moment's notice.

All in all, it seemed they'd taken two steps forward together but were dragged back a step and a half by everyone else. Is this what their whole life would be like? Would they still be getting attacked once they were married? Would she have to go through a pregnancy fearing some psycho would attack her in an effort to kill her hypothetical unborn child? Would those potential future children be attacked on the way to school as a matter of course? She definitely didn't want a life like that, but at present things looked to be heading that way.

She'd always thought that if they managed to get over their pride and admit those three little words to each other that everything would somehow magically be alright. Instead that was merely the beginning.

No more crying herself to sleep? Ha! The cause might have changed but she still did it, when she even _could_ sleep that is.

No more fear of Ranma leaving her every time that Chinese floozy glomped onto him? That particular Amazon based fear may be gone but what replaced it was a hell of a price to pay.

The idea of her own death frightened her of course, but knowing Ranma would likely lose himself in grief and do who knows what, up to and including killing himself, was completely overwhelming.

She'd thought having the pressure from their parents reduced would have made things easier, instead other even worse pressures just took their place.

Would things ever be better? Be normal? Would they ever actually be happy?

Was being with Ranma really worth all the lost sleep, fear, and tears?

Akane looked Ranma over and could see that while he was trying to project his usual aura of nonchalant confidence, she could tell he was feeling the strain too. While they'd taken to using the roof to vent their frustrations to and find comfort in each other, there was still some things they didn't share.

Was he starting to doubt it was all worth it too?

Finally the warm up was over and it was time to spar.

"Okay, 'kane, come at me when ya ready," Ranma said with his trademark grin plastered on his face.

"Shouldn't you be the one coming at me, seeing as I'm the one expecting to be attacked?" Akane shot back at him with a smirk of her own.

Immediately Ranma was in her face probing her defences. Block, dodge, block, block, roll away from the roundhouse, jump the sweep... He was keeping his speed just far enough ahead of her so that she had difficulty retaliating without leaving herself open. Getting frustrated, she thought she saw an opening and tried to grab what she thought was a rare overextended punch to throw Ranma, but in the end found herself headed for the wall instead of him. She tried to turn to spring off the wall but something impacted the back of her head before she'd even reached it.

Darkness claimed her.

* * *

Akane awoke with a groan and clutched at the back of her head. The last thing she remembered was training in the dojo with Ranma, attempting a throw and getting thrown instead.

Looking up to her fiancé, she was startled to find a number of things weren't quite right. First, Ranma was wearing a school uniform and not the gi he had been wearing mere moments ago. Did Ranma even _own_ a proper school uniform? Second, and much more alarming, were his eyes; the deep blue pools that usually adorned his face were replaced by warm brown eyes, that were strangely familiar. Startled by this, she took in his appearance more thoroughly and realised his hair had a bluish tint to it, illuminated by the sunlight, and it was tied back in a loose ponytail rather than a braid.

Wait, sunlight? Weren't they inside the dojo? Glancing around Akane realised they were under a tree at Furinkan High and she was also wearing her school uniform.

 _What on Earth?_

"You okay there, Tomboy?" the pseudo-Ranma asked, a concerned note in his voice. It sure _sounded_ like him, but somehow also, not.

"R-Ranma?" she asked tremulously.

"That's my name, don't wear it out. You know I got it second hand to start with, Sis. Stupid Dad, too cheap and lazy to come up with a new name. At least it ain't 'Genma' I guess."

Akane startled at this information. _Sister?_ And this was Ranma's _son?_

"You sure you're okay, Kimiko?(1) You missed your usual line there about it being 'Mother's idea not Father's', and it being some western tradition she thought was sweet 'and anyway, Daddy isn't cheap and lazy like Grand-Pop' or somethin like that," the Ranma clone chuckled for a moment, before turning serious, "I thought you were stayin home sick today, then I see you collapse under the tree here. Did ya hit ya head or somethin?"

Akane choked up at being called by her mother's name. The implications of all of these tidbits of information made it obvious who the mother of Ranma Junior and Kimiko was. Was this all a dream? Perhaps a genuine vision of the future, or at least maybe one possible future?

Akane rubbed the lump on the back of her head, sore from when she'd hit it after being thrown back in the dojo. She hadn't reached the wall so what on Earth did she hit? She noticed a root sticking out of the ground about where her head had lain. If Ranma Junior had seen Kimiko collapse here, then perhaps that is where the other girl had hit her head. But why was Akane seemingly in her future daughter's body now?

"I, uh... I guess I hit my head when I fell," she replied lamely, "though other than the headache I don't really feel sick… not exactly."

Trying to avoid the younger Ranma's perplexed gaze, Akane noticed some guys that appeared to belong to the Kendo club bullying a boy that looked rather like Gosunkugi. Suddenly, what appeared to be a female student out of uniform confronted them. When the girl shouted "Delinquents!" and drained them, she was revealed to be none other than Akane's English teacher Hinako Ninomiya.(2) It was clear that Miss Ninomiya's adult form had aged as well, gaining a few lines around her eyes and a couple of grey streaks in her hair.

Momentarily stupefied, Akane found herself being led to the school gate by the boy she was now thinking of as 'Ranma 2.0'. Akane was further startled to see another incomplete facsimile of someone she knew from her own life. Before her stood an imperfect clone of Ukyo making okonomiyaki on a portable grill. Noting the Adam's apple and lack of a bow in the long, dark hair, it was clear to her that this must be Ukyo's son. He was rather pretty, somewhat feminine looking for a boy but not in a bad way. The way he was dressed in the boy's uniform with a bandoleer of spatulas across his chest along with the portable grill in front of him reminded her so much like Ukyo it was eerie. Though up close she noted the differences became more obvious.

She idly wondered just who this boy's father was, thankfully certain he wasn't Ranma's. The aspects of his face that didn't resemble Ukyo were familiar to her somehow, but she couldn't quite put her finger on who his father might be. No stupid fangs so it shouldn't be the 'pig' either. As Akane shuddered at that thought, her 'brother' snapped her out of her reverie by addressing the cook.

"Hey, Kenji, just takin' sis home cause she's sick. Can I get a special to go?"

"Sure thing, Cuz. You want anything, Sugar?" Kenji the Ukyo clone asked Akane.

"Uh, no thanks," Akane mumbled lamely in reply. Between feeling disoriented and not knowing how she should be acting as Kimiko, mumbling seemed to be all Akane could manage at the moment.

"Hey, you alright, Kimi?" Kenji asked, as he put a hand on her cheek to direct her gaze to his.

His touch was gentle, feeling more like a loving caress than just something between friends, especially the way he rubbed her cheek with his thumb. To say it made Akane uncomfortable would be a gross understatement, though as that pretty much summed up _everything_ she'd experienced since opening her eyes she let it go. She watched as the boy's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked into her own startled set, "She really doesn't look herself today, Ranma."

"Get yer hands off my sister, ya jerk!" the pony-tailed boy fumed.

"If we want to get married that's _our_ business, not yours, Ranma," Kenji retorted to her 'brother' with a shark like grin, whilst slipping 'Kimiko' a wink as he finally withdrew his hand from her face.

"She ain't your fiancée so quit it! That 'passing the engagement down a generation' thing is just a sick joke of your ma's, it ain't happening!"

"You're too easy, Ranma," Ukyo's boy laughed, flipping an okonomiyaki into the air, "Just get your sister home safely, will you? She looks really out of it, seriously."

Ranma Junior snatched the snack out of the air and crammed it down his throat, greatly resembling his father. Just like his oblivious father, he didn't catch the worried tone in Kenji's voice as easily as he caught the food.

"Id ab oler bruder's," Ranma paused to swallow before continuing, "responsibility to look after his little sister!"

"I thought _she_ was the older twin?"

"SHE IS NOT!"

"See? Too easy!"

The pony-tailed boy stormed off, dragging his dazed 'sister' along behind him. After a block or so, Akane realised her 'brother' was getting annoyed at the unconscious passive resistance she was providing by not being at all mentally present. She'd just started coming to her senses and realised that _their_ home was likely _her_ home, when the boy angrily blurted out, "C'mon, sis! If you don't hurry up..."

*Splash*

"...the ladle lady will get us," the still male Ranma 2.0 finished with a groan.

 _Exactly how old_ is _that lady?_ Akane wondered to herself.

Ranma shook most of the water out of his hair before scooping Akane up bridal style, producing an involuntary yelp from the time displaced young woman, and carried her roof hopping the rest of the way home. It felt pretty awkward being carried by this Ranma, not at all like the Ranma she knew.

 _Not that he's being rough or anything like that, this Ranma carries me just as easily and smoothly as the other one does, but somehow it just feels...wrong. Not_ bad _wrong, just, not..._ right _. Oh, who am I kidding? I always liked it when Ranma held me and carried me away like this, even though I usually objected and called him a pervert for doing it. I really should apologise for calling him a pervert all the time. It might help him relax a bit more when we're alone._

 _Wait..._

 _Will I ever get the chance? What if I'm stuck here?!_

 _If I'm here, where is this Ranma's real sister? Did my future daughter go back in time to my body? Where is the older version of me? Where's the_ real _Ranma?_

Akane was just starting to panic when her 'son' set her down at a very familiar front door.

"We're home! You here, Ma?" Ranma 2.0 called out.

"In the kitchen, sweetie. What are you doing home so early?" Akane heard her own voice call out.

Ranma led her to the kitchen where Akane was confronted with an older version of herself and the unexpectedly pleasant scent of baking cookies. The older Akane darted around the kitchen with a very Kasumi-like effortless grace, rather than Akane's own 'unique style' in the kitchen. She noted her older self still wore her hair short, though it was styled slightly differently to her own. She also appeared to still be practising martial arts, given she was wearing an apron over a gi.

Did this mean she taught in the dojo with Ranma? She sure hoped she wasn't just a housewife.

"Kimiko turned up at at school during the lunch break, but she fainted and I think she mighta hit her head on somethin 'cause she's been acting weird, all spaced out and stuff. Should I take her straight up to her room? Will you call the doc?"

"Honestly, I thought she was still asleep up there, I didn't even hear her leave! I'm sure Uncle Tofu won't mind a house call," the older Akane said kindly as she approached to inspect her 'daughter'.

The younger Akane averted her eyes. Wasn't there some sort of time travel paradox that stated they both can't be in one place together? Or does her consciousness being in her future daughter's body mean that rule doesn't matter as she isn't actually present physically? Everyone seemed to think she _was_ Kimiko after all. Regardless, looking at her older self was just too weird, and Akane instinctually feared that her eyes might give her true identity away. She felt a hand on her forehead before it shifted to her chin to tilt her head side to side.

"Hrm, she _is_ really pale, but doesn't seem to have a concussion. Get her back in bed and I'll bring up some tea," the older Akane glanced at the clock on the wall before addressing her younger self, "It is nearly time for the next dose of your medicine, but do you think you can wait for Tofu to get here, sweetie? Just in case he wants to give you something stronger or different and it can't be taken together with what you're taking now."

"I-I'll be fine waiting," the younger Akane mumbled.

"Tell you what, if Tofu can't get here for a while I'll give you your next dose when I bring up your tea" her older self said, frowning at her 'daughter's' condition.

Akane gave half a smile and nodded her assent before she was suddenly dragged from the room by Ranma 2.0. It was only after leaving the room that her mind caught up to her ears. Not only was Doctor Tofu back in town after abruptly disappearing without a word one day, he was now 'Uncle Tofu'. Surely he'd married Kasumi, right? But how did he get over his, er, affliction? Perhaps that's why he disappeared in the first place, to get over his Kasumi-itis?

In the upstairs hallway, Akane noted Nabiki's old room had a wooden horse sign hanging on the door emblazoned with 'Ranma Junior', and her own door had a little duck labelled 'Kimiko'. A sudden fear struck Akane; what if the real Kimiko was in that room sleeping off her headache right now and she was discovered as an impostor? Before Akane could do anything, the young Ranma had her through the doorway and had unceremoniously deposited her on the thankfully empty bed. Her apparent body double was nowhere in sight, though the window was wide open so perhaps she had feigned the headache to ditch school? Or maybe she had made her way to school and they'd swapped bodies when the other girl fainted like Akane had originally thought?

"T-Thanks, Ranma. You can go back to school now, I'll be fine."

"Yeah yeah, school, awesome," Ranma 2.0 muttered with a roll of his eyes as he drifted away.

Akane took in her former bedroom. Like so many other things she'd seen today, it was an imperfect duplicate of the room she knew. Most of the furniture was the same, or at least very similar in size, shape, and colour. She supposed the room wasn't very large so there could only be so many ways to arrange the furniture around a bed.

Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, Akane walked over to the full length mirror. After composing herself, she opened her eyes to take in her appearance.

 _Well, that was anticlimactic; I look totally normal!_

She couldn't spot a difference at all. Well, there was the school uniform that had changed slightly, and she was wearing a necklace, but as far as she could tell her daughter was a duplicate of herself. Seeing as everyone else was close but slightly off, that struck Akane as odd.

Spotting a photo on the desk out of the corner of her eye, she snatched it up. It showed a slightly younger looking version of Ranma Junior, and presumably her daughter Kimiko. Akane noted that while the other girl looked very much like her, Kimiko had small differences like her father's blue eyes and plain black hair without a hint of blue, though it was cut quite similar to her own. Checking the mirror again she confirmed her own brown eyes and dark blue hair were still there.

Had no-one noticed the change? Or perhaps the reflection was different to Akane's eyes as she knew who she really was? If her son or older self were standing next to her, would they see Kimiko in the mirror where she saw herself? It seemed likely. Akane fingered the necklace near her collarbone absent-mindedly before realising there was a weight on the gold chain, at which point she drew it out to inspect it. What she found was a small key hanging on the simple necklace. She wondered what it was for? There was a knock on the door and her older self entered with a cup of tea.

"Tofu will be here shortly, he happened to be about to break for lunch so he should only be ten minutes or so. I've got to get back out there to help your father get ready for the class in the dojo. I'd forgotten that it was the birthday of one of the little preschool students today, so just before you got home I'd rushed in to throw the cookies together for the class to share once they finish. In a way it was good timing that your brother brought you home when he did so we caught each other before the class started."

The older Akane put a hand tenderly on her 'daughter's' cheek, gently rubbing it with her thumb in an altogether different manner to how Ukyo's boy had. Akane tentatively shot her older self a thankful smile, mouthed her thanks, and watched her older doppelganger leave the room.

Finally alone again, Akane got back to thinking. She must be in her daughter's body, otherwise why wouldn't anyone have noticed her hair and eyes? She exhaled in relief that an almost clone of herself wouldn't be sneaking back in through the window to cause any drama, then her breath caught again as she realised Tofu could read auras. Would he be fooled the same as everyone else? Surely her daughter's body combined with her mind would look weird to him? Anxiety began to plague her yet again.

Even if she cleared _this_ hurdle, what would come next? How would she react to an adult Ranma that she knew had married her? Most importantly, how was she going to get home?

 _If this is time travel, then wouldn't the older me have lived through this already? She didn't seem to remember herself being dragged in here by Ranma 2.0, though perhaps she was playing along for some reason?_

 _With so many years having gone by and no doubt so many other weird things happening in the mean time, maybe it simply slipped her mind? Or maybe it never happened to this other Akane at all? If this time travel thing_ had _happened to the other Akane, I'd feel better knowing that if_ she _could find a way home to be able to grown up, marry Ranma, and have a family, then_ I _should be able to too. Right?_.

 _Wait, does that even make sense?_

 _What if there's multiple timelines instead of one timeline? Can things be changed or are they destined to work out however they work out regardless of what anyone does? Hang on, I'm in the future not the past, so I'm not changing anything, am I? Or would I only be changing things when I go home?_

 _Uh, thinking about this is so confusing!_

Akane considered admitting the truth to the other Akane, just in case she _had_ lived through it after all. Though if she hadn't it might be a one way ticket to the loony bin. Perhaps it might be best not revealing who she really was, as least in the short term. The thing was, how was she supposed to fake being her daughter when she knew absolutely nothing about the girl? Sure, she was pretty darn good at acting, but how could she play an almost entirely unspecified role? Was Kimiko a martial artist like she was? Ranma 2.0 had called her a tomboy, and given who her parents were, it was a safe bet that she'd been taught the art to some degree. Though it was possible she'd given it away for other sports?

Getting up swiftly and checking the closet, Akane sighed in relief at the sight of a well worn gi of the correct size hanging within. Hopefully she found a way home while she was still 'sick', and could be forgiven for being withdrawn due to illness rather than however her daughter usually behaved.

Was it as simple as going to sleep, seeing as unconsciousness brought her here? Or would she need to get knocked unconscious again? Or was it more complicated that she'd have to recreate what happened and spar with Ranma and hit her head again? Hang on, which Ranma? The one her body's age that was staring at her when she woke up, or the real one that knocked her out and sent her here? The real Ranma...

As she closed the closet and turned around, Akane was startled to realise that she had changed out of her uniform into a comfortable tee shirt and pair of shorts, apparently on autopilot. At a loss for what to do next and unable to get the idea of seeing Ranma all grown up out of her head, Akane snuck out of her room, along the hallway, and down the stairs.

With a jolt of excitement, she heard her target talking to her older self in the kitchen. Just as she peeked around the doorway into the kitchen, Akane heard a shriek of laughter. The other Akane was hiding a plate of chocolate chip cookies behind her back as Ranma tried to snatch one, though it was rather obvious that neither of them were really concentrating on the cookies. As the couple continued to kiss they drifted back to the kitchen bench, which Ranma slipped the plate onto as the older Akane wrapped her arms around him, fiddling with his pigtail with one hand. As they pulled apart, Ranma revealed a stolen cookie in his hand, which he offered to his wife. After she'd finished his offering, Ranma leaned in and half kissed, half licked a smear of chocolate chip from the corner of her mouth. Both Akanes gasped and blushed in unison, alerting the adults to the younger's presence.

"Whatcha doin, Kimi? You're meant ta be resting till Tofu gets here," Ranma half scolded.

"I, um, I was kind of hungry and wanted something more than just tea," Akane mumbled lamely.

She noted that her older self seemed just as embarrassed as she was, though Ranma seemed totally unphased by her staring at them.

"So, what can she have, 'kane?"

"Huh?" asked the startled older woman.

"Can she have one of these?" Ranma asked, snatching another of the gooey chocolate chip cookies from the plate.

"Ah, no! With the headache and disorientation she may vomit if she eats something too rich like that. Those things are more butter, sugar, and chocolate than flour."

The older Akane stepped over to the pantry and seemed to hunt around for a moment before reappearing with a plastic container.

"Here, Kimiko," the older Akane said as she passed the younger two dry crackers.

"Thanks, uh, Mom," Akane said, looking at the pitiful little snack.

Sure, she wasn't really hungry to start with and that was the sort of thing Kasumi would have given her in the same situation, but she was starting to get really curious about tasting those cookies having seen… she blushed again at the thought of being in the other Akane's place.

"Now get to bed and rest till Tofu gets here, young lady," Ranma said in a mock stern voice whilst flashing Akane a grin, either misreading or ignoring her embarrassment, before turning back to his wife, "I really should get out there and make sure our son ain't tryin to teach anything too advanced to those preschoolers. Love yas lots!"

With a quick kiss on the cheek for the older Akane and one on the forehead for the younger, he disappeared. The older Akane recovered more quickly, patting the younger on the shoulder as she turned to pick up the plate of cookies and follow her husband.

"You heard your father. You need your rest, sweetie, even if you can't actually sleep just yet with Tofu on the way."

"O-okay."

There was a splash outside followed by Ranma's frustrated and higher pitched exclamation, "Dammit!"

Akane watched her older self giggle, grab a kettle with her free hand, and follow her husband out the door. With nothing left to do, Akane returned to her daughter's bedroom.

She shut the door behind herself and leant against it. That was really interesting. _Her_ Ranma had real issues with public displays of affection, though it appeared he'd eventually get over that. Though she supposed being busted kissing by your family in your own home is wildly different to being caught by strangers in public, but even so her Ranma always fretted, triple checking for Nabiki or their fathers when they kissed. And it seemed Ranma only got more attractive with age, at least in his male form but no doubt in his female form as well. Though Akane did have to admit she aged pretty well herself.

This Ranma still had the curse. Why?

Surely there would have been many more opportunities to get rid of it, so why hadn't he? Did it turn out it couldn't actually be cured, or perhaps he'd taken too long to actually use the cure and the curse had become truly permanent? Had he instead decided to keep it? Had he accepted it as part of himself or even grown to like it?

Ranma's curse had never really bothered Akane seeing as she'd never known him without it. Okay, once she'd actually got to know him it hadn't bothered her, but he'd always been adamant that he hated it. Maybe if, no when; she had to be confident that she _would_ get home; when she got home she'd talk to him and find out exactly why he hated it so much. Maybe he assumed she herself hated it and wanted to 'be a full man' for her, or it was a hangup he'd inherited from his parents about being a 'man among men'? It wasn't weird that she'd miss his cursed form if he finally did get his cure, was it?

Unsure of what to do next, Akane flopped onto the bed to attempt meditating on her situation but jerked back up as something jabbed her in the small of her back.

A small, hard covered book?

Looking at it more closely, she noted the lock and surmised it must be her daughter's diary. With a jolt she remembered the key hanging around her neck. She drew out the necklace and key, comparing it to the lock. It was the right size and it did make sense that Kimiko would keep the key on her to ensure her privacy. After a few moments indecision, torn between not wanting to invade the girl's privacy and the need to get hints on how to behave if she were to be stuck here playing the girl, she put the key into the lock and it clicked open. Akane fished through the pages until she found the most recent entry.

 _March 15_ _th_

 _Kenji and I went on another secret date yesterday for White Day. It was just lunch at a cafe and a movie in the next ward over, but it was still really nice. I can't believe we've managed to keep this a secret for almost four months now, especially with my nosy brother around so much! He's such a busybody, yet so oblivious!_

 _Kenji has taken to teasing Ranma with the old engagement gag lately. It_ _is_ _kind of funny given the history between our parents. I mean, we've had to endure our parents and my brother teasing us about it our whole lives, so it's great that it can be used against one of our tormentors for once! At first I was afraid it might give us away, but Ranma jumps straight into 'paranoid overprotective big brother' mode without even registering that not six months ago_ _he_ _was the one talking about it all the time!_

 _I wonder if Mother suspects? Last time Kenji was here studying he made a simple mistake on a math problem, I called him an idiot and smacked him playfully on the back of the head. Mom was standing in the doorway watching us with this sort_ _of_ _, I don't know,_ _maybe_ _knowing, look on her face... I've heard all the stories about her and Dad's high school years and how they used to hurl insults at each other and she used to hit him like that, so maybe it reminded her of them?_

 _Maybe we should come clean? The excitement of keeping the secret is starting to wear off and that just leaves the frustration of having to hide how we feel from everybody and the anxiety of being caught. It isn't like any of our parents would disapprove, and we only kept the secret in the first place because of Ranma being... well, Ranma. Even worse than his merciless teasing would be if he got upset. He's so much more sensitive than he likes to admit (just like Dad apparently), so I was worried about how he would react to his sister and his best friend being..._

"Kimiko?"

Startled, Akane slammed the diary shut. Doctor Tofu was knocking on the door. Tossing the book under a pillow and swinging around to sit on the edge of the bed, Akane tried to compose herself. She failed miserably but in resignation decided to just bite the bullet and hope Tofu didn't notice anything.

"Come in."

Tofu had aged pretty well. The streaks of grey in his long, tied back hair suited him. He swung the chair from the desk around so he could sit level with her, his sharp eyes looking into hers.

"Well, your pupils are fine, your mother is right, no concussion. Mind if I?"

He gestured that he wished to inspect the lump on her head, so she turned to give him a good look at it.

"Hrm," he mumbled whilst feeling the lump, "this isn't in a place that should disorient you as much as your brother described. He's trying to hide it like usual, but he's really worried about you, Kimiko. He didn't head back to school until I'd arrived to hear his first hand account of your behaviour, just in case some detail he hadn't relayed to your mother was important."

Tofu backed up so Akane turned to face him again. He hadn't given any indication that he believed anything odd was going on. At least not yet.

"So, what's the verdict, Doc?"

Tofu frowned pensively, picking his words carefully.

"Well... Being disoriented like what was described without a fever to explain it...with the way you have no other symptoms but a headache. To be honest, it kind of worries me because it doesn't add up..."

Akane bit her lip in worry as the doctor drifted off in thought again. Finally, he seemed to come to a decision.

"Your mother said you seemed much better when she brought you up a drink compared to when your brother first brought you home, and you seem fine to me now. Lets say if you still have the headache or feel at all disoriented tomorrow, you stay home from school and come over to the clinic as soon as you can.

"On the other hand, if you feel fine in the morning feel free to go to school like normal, but make sure you drop by the clinic on your way home so I can give you another check up. I'll leave you to rest now and will let your mother know what's going on."

"Can I take the same headache pills I've been taking? Honestly, I'd like nothing more but to go to sleep but my head hurts way too much," Akane asked with a little white lie.

Well, she supposed all the thoughts thrashing around in her brain _were_ causing a headache of sorts. Hopefully sleep was her way home. If not, she'd worry about it in the morning. As she watched him thinking, Akane decided that perhaps Tofu would be a good person to explain the situation to if it didn't resolve itself. She had to see him tomorrow regardless and surely he'd be able to tell it really was her somehow if he checked her more thoroughly, so the odds of not being believed were lower.

Akane wondered what would happen to Kimiko if she _did_ manage to get home from simply going to sleep. Would the other girl have no memory of today's events when she woke up tomorrow? Or would she perhaps remember everything as if it was some sort of vivid dream? For all Akane knew, Kimiko could be trapped in her own head watching everything Akane did and hearing all her thoughts...

 _If you can hear me, I'm really sorry about this, Kimiko._

"Well, how about this?" Tofu said snapping Akane back to the present, "I can hit some pressure points to both ease the headache and make you go to sleep. What do you think?"

 _That might even count as being knocked unconscious!_ Akane thought excitedly.

"That sounds wonderful, Doctor Tofu!" Akane burst out in relief.

Tofu looked at her quizzically.

"I don't think you've _ever_ called me 'Doctor Tofu' before, Kimiko. Uncle Tofu or 'Doc' as a nickname is fine."

"Oh!" Akane spluttered, "I just thought seeing as you were here in a professional capacity that maybe I should be a bit more formal and respectful, you know."

"Oh, well we're family so I don't see why you would ever need to be formal with me, but if you want to I suppose it's okay," Tofu said slightly mollified as he adjusted his glasses, "Are you ready right now? If you need a toilet break or something more to eat or drink first I can wait."

"No, no, I'm ready now."

Akane laid down, careful to lock the diary and shift it out of the way without knocking it off the bed.

"Okay, Kimiko, here goes. Goodnight and remember, I want to see you tomorrow even if you're feeling totally fine."

"Okay, I promise. Goodnight, D-Uncle Tofu."

She closed her eyes, felt a little pressure around her temples and at the back of her head near the top of her neck, then slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

"Akane! Akane, please! Speak to me! Come on, Akane, please wake up! I-I can't do this again! It's too, too much l-like Jusendo... Please, 'kane!"

Akane's eyes snapped open to once again see Ranma's face just above hers, except this time it was _her_ Ranma. She latched onto the pigtailed boy for dear life before he had time to realise she was awake, no doubt knocking the unshed tears she'd noticed at the corners of his bright blue eyes loose. After a few moments, she felt her fiancé tentatively return the hug.

"Dammit, Tomboy, don't scare me like that!" Ranma burst out, clearly trying to hide how upset he was.

"It's okay, Ranma, I'm here and I'm fine. H-how long was I out?" Akane asked, worried given her 'experience' lasted about an hour.

"Uh, I dunno? More than a minute, less than five? It was long enough for me to check you over for injuries and then start to get worried that the lump on your head was worse than I thought, but not long enough for me to call anyone."

They laid there holding each other looking into each other's eyes for another few moments before they simultaneously realised what they were doing and became a little uncomfortable given anyone could walk in at any moment.

"As great as this is, would you help me up?" Akane asked timidly.

Ranma sprang off her like he'd been burned before offering her a hand up. Akane knew his reaction was a left over reflex from all the time they'd had to worry about their fathers springing a wedding on them if they saw any affection between them, but this time it didn't hurt as much as it previously did.

"What did I hit my head on? I know I didn't reach the wall," Akane asked casting her eyes around the dojo.

"There was a training dummy left out. I swear it wasn't there when we started. Mustn'ta been payin' enough attention. I'm so sorry, Akane," Ranma said, guilt practically radiating from him.

Akane didn't remember any training dummies being left out either, though given her 'trip' perhaps some Kami or guardian angel or something moved it?

"So, you aren't going to try to use this as an excuse to stop training me, are you?" Akane asked with narrowed eyes.

"No, no!" Ranma replied, waving his hands in a warding off gesture, "I gave you my word as a martial artist that I wouldn't quit until you could take Shampoo, I ain't backing out now. Though I'd be lying if I said this ain't exactly the sort of thing I was worried about with trainin ya. You know I can't handle seeing you hurt, especially after… well, you know."

Startled, Akane realised she hadn't seen a single trace of the Amazons in her little adventure. On top of that, the problems with Ukyo were obviously resolved as well. She couldn't have suppressed the smile forming on her face if she tried.

"You don't have to worry, Ranma. I can assure you I'll still be alive and well for at least, oh say, another twenty years."

"Uh, that's an oddly specific thing to say. Why twenty years?"

Akane thought about it. Even with the bizarre things they'd been through, time travel was a bit of a stretch.(3) It wasn't as if she even knew it was anything more than a very vivid dream, but she felt it was real, every fibre of her being wanted it to be real.

She had felt so hopeless before, not being able to see a future for them without all of the chaos. Even if it wasn't real, the seed of hope it had planted in her heart her gave her new strength to keep going.

He was worth it, _they_ were worth it. She had to believe something like the future she saw was possible.

Akane pulled Ranma into a bone crushing hug followed up with a short, sweet kiss, after which she laid her head on his shoulder to whisper in his ear.

"I love you, Ranma. So much."

"I love you too, 'kane, but ya still didn't answer my question. Why twenty years?"

As she drew away, she smiled at him and said, "Lets just say I have a feeling and leave it at that."

* * *

 _Author's Notes:_

 _This is my first Ranma ½ fic and second ever story submitted to this site, so please be gentle._

 _This started as 4400 rambling words of basically the 'Akane in the Future' part (that was the working title, BTW) with no real point to it at all, but I liked the idea more than some of my other unfinished one-shots so persisted with it. I contacted_ _PurseMonger_ _and she very kindly helped so much that to do more she would've pretty much been writing the thing herself. Seriously, if you love this it is all thanks to her. If you hate it, well, you can only polish a turd so much and it was my turd so don't blame her._

 _(1) 'Kimiko' seems to be roughly the most popular 'fanon' name for Mrs Tendo, I like it so I'm going with it._

 _(2) I did some rough estimations to come up with Hinako's age here. When she appeared in the manga her young form looked around 10-12yo and her adult form mid to late twenties. In the flashback where Happosai taught her to siphon off ki she looked more like 4-6yo. I simply aged both forms proportionally about the same amount again seeing as a similar amount of time would have had to pass in this future Akane visited._

 _(3) While the_ _Nanban Mirror_ _is anime only, I figure someone is bound to bring it up after I put that line there. It's meant to be an anime versus manga gag of the 'I see what you did there' variety._

 _The last things of note is while this is manga universe based, I did go with the anime hair colours. Just because I can. Also if it wasn't obvious, I was trying to hint that Konatsu was Kenji's father but Akane was too preoccupied with the situation to realise it.  
_


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